Olivier Marchal, chairman Bain & Company, France, has said his firm’s clients most want to see social law change if they are to continue to prosper and create employment. Talking to Bloomberg, after the results of the French presidential election, he said: “The great hope is for social, taxation and political reforms. But of all these three, companies want social law reforms most. We have 10% unemployment in France and to address this firms need flexibility in social laws – our working hours and our work contracts. They also want to reduce the level of payroll taxes, which are very high – in fact the highest in Europe.” Although he accepted the challenge is a tall one, he said the good news is that “this is what Macron has said is most important too.” He added: “The outcome of the election is good news for the country, good news for the economy and very good news for Europe as well.”